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I think it's stalled

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I hate cycling. Hate it. IDK what is wrong, or if anything even is wrong. Anyway, I think it's stalled. It is a 55 gallon tank, with a marineland 350 magnum filter, a powerhead, and the heat is up to 82F. It is also somewhat planted. I seeded the filter with my 20gallon's sponge filter.

Your ammonia is dropping so I don't think the cycle is stalled. When you use seeded media it's not uncommon to not see nitrites.

When I go fishing I just place a sharp rock in the water and sit there waiting for all the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherBrutal honesty will be shown on this screen.I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.Tolerance is a great thing to have, so is the ability to shut up.I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.

They will use up a bit, but not enough to matter. The ammonia is dropping and you have nitrates, the cycle is moving along. The bio-load of a 20g filter is not going to have enough bacteria in it to fully cycle a 55g that had 4ppm ammonia. As long as the ammonia is dropping and you have nitrates, I wouldn't worry.

When I go fishing I just place a sharp rock in the water and sit there waiting for all the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherBrutal honesty will be shown on this screen.I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.Tolerance is a great thing to have, so is the ability to shut up.I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.

As Mommy1 also said, you might not see Nitrites at all, and that isn't really a bbad thing. As long as you have some Nitrates in there, you know the cycle is being completed.

So how will I know when it is done? Will nitrites eventually show up as nitrate climbs? I intend to keep the ammonia dose up to 2 once it gets to zero. Hmmm. an unconventional cycle makes me feel even dumber!

No two cycles are the same, no need to feel dumb just because you don't have nitrites.
You will know the tank is cycled when you have readings of 0ppm ammonia and nitrite and some nitrate within 24 hours of the last time you added ammonia.

When I go fishing I just place a sharp rock in the water and sit there waiting for all the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherBrutal honesty will be shown on this screen.I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.Tolerance is a great thing to have, so is the ability to shut up.I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.

Wow. I guess you all are right...of course you are. In a bit more than 12hrs the ammonia dropped to about 1.5...that is not stalled....that is speeding up! Still no trites, and i would assume the ammonia eating and the trite eating bacteria are growing simultaneously, instead of the annomia eating ones then the trite eating ones. How fascinating! Thanks for your reassurances...i am simply a spaz.